You put a spell on me - english version
by Ayla Pupo
Summary: How did the Frankenstein Place arise, who was Dr. Frank N. Furter and what were his goals here on Earth? After years of research, the mysterious scientist decides that studying humans at distance no longer satisfies him and goes on a search for interaction with them. What he couldn't predict, however, was how much this experience would get out of his control ... Pre-Rocky Horror.
1. Chapter 1 - The Frankenstein Place

This history was originally written in portuguese, my native language, so I would like to apologize for any grammatical mistakes on this translation. Thank you!

 **CHAPTER 1 - The Frankenstein Place**

The Frankenstein Place. That was how the residents of Denton called the strange, dark and mysterious building which appeared suddenly in a not very often traveled deviation of the main road. At least that was how they called it in their thoughts, because the Castle was rarely mentioned in conversation circles, at family gatherings, in student meetings or Sunday Mass. It was as if the whole town knew of its existence but pretended they didn't, and, perhaps because of it, no one ever questioned about how and when the Castle appeared there, who lived there, where that name came from and what was going on in the depths of that land. It felt like the inhabitants of Denton were subjected to some kind of hypnosis, which alienated their minds and protected the secrets of the castle.

No one knew, then, that the Frankenstein Place existed for much longer than they could ever imagine. The building occupied the land long before the emergence of Denton, and it was inhabited by strange creatures, beings from another planet who settled up there in order to study the human species through research; the study consisted of observing the human sexual behavior and how sexuality had influence on their lives and communities. This interest had arisen by the fact that the inhabitants of the planet Transexual, located at the Transylvania galaxy, could not understand the shame and the sexual limitations that struck the homo sapiens, since the species homo transpiens had overcame such issues millions of years ago. So, for years, Transylvanians settled in different countries of the Earth planet to carry out this research and gathered annually for a convention on the house of the scientist who had the most distinguished himself in the researches produced during that year.

Dr. Frank N. Furter was one of those Transylvanian scientists and the responsible for inhabiting the Frankenstein Place with his faithful servants, the siblings Riff Raff and Magenta, since the Castle appearance, when it descended from the sky on a very cold night of 1688. Frank, considered a renowned scientist at the place where he had come from, studied hard the human behavior during these almost three centuries on Earth, noticing a serie of blockades imposed by society that prevented the mankind to enjoy their lives in fullness. He saw people of the same gender denying their desires and sticking themselves in heterosexual relationships that didn't satisfied them completely; he saw relatives who loved each other being unable to feel attracted to each other due to social taboos; he saw monogamous marriages that fell into boredom and destroyed the love of the couple; he saw the hypocrisy of sexism, which allowed males to discover their sexuality long before the females; he saw women who spent their whole lives without knowing what was real pleasure, although they laid down with their husbands every night; he saw, moreover, people trapped in a limited gender concept, which required them to define themselves in a binary way between being male or female, taking into account only their genitalia, and excluding the possibility of gender fluidity or the simple absence of it. Although the scientist could see occasional improvements in sexual matter according to the time, it was a fact that this subject was still a major social taboo and that the human being was far from reaching the evolutionary stage of the Transylvanians.

Frank studied all this time such behaviors discreetly, increasingly saddening himself with all that lack of freedom, of happiness, and, over the years, in his mind the seed of an idea started to emerge, sprouting fast and uninterrupted. Like this, on a beautiful day, when getting up from his bed in the morning, the Doctor figured out that studying at distance no longer satisfied him, both personally and professionally, and decided he would go to the city of Denton to seek interaction with humans. Frank believed he could contribute positively to improvement of the mankind`s quality of life since recording data without having the power to interfere in the behavior of his study objects could not bring anything good to humanity.

Riff Raff and Magenta used to leave the Castle at certain intervals in order to buy supplies at the city. Due to their appearance, jarring the appearance of most human, they wore disguises that drew little attention, and they used to go to the market with a pick-up truck large enough to put almost anything that may be needed. On the day that Frank decided to go out on his adventure, therefore, he took the pick-up truck and put on one of the modest clothing he could find: a white shirt and black pants along with a pair of brown shoes. Before starting the vehicle, the Doctor observed himself for a few seconds in the car mirror and sighed sadly: his hair combed back and tamed by the gel, the clear face without the glamor of his makeup, his neck without accessories, the serious and lifeless clothing; none of these represented him. All of these represented the grey that was the life of the human being, with no color, no grace, nothing. Although he had already dressed himself like this in occasional situations when he was executing his study on the field, it seemed that this was the first time he felt inside the depressing and limited skin of a human, perhaps because, this time, he wouldn't have to just physically resemble one, but also act like one. Nevertheless, Frank shook his face and looked away from the mirror, thinking with dedication to his cause. The feeling impelled him further to put the idea into practice, so Frank started the huge car engine and left the Frankenstein Place to go in search of a bait.


	2. Chapter 2 - The girl of Denton

**CHAPTER 2 - The girl of Denton**

Frank drove calmly to the center of Denton. It was a sunny Sunday with very blue sky and big and fluffy clouds above the heads of the inhabitants of the small town. It was, moreover, quite silent, since most of the population was in the church next to the main square. Frank heard the bells ringing, announcing midday and the end of the mass, and went with the pick- up truck to the square to watch those who were leaving the sacred building. Discreetly, the Doctor waited until, one by one, the citizens left the large ornate door, and observed, lingering for a while on the face of each one of them, concluding, without exception, they were all unhappy in their small limited lives. Elders who couldn't enjoy the sexuality of their youth to the fullest and who thought that age no longer allowed them to try; young people, who looked at the older and saw on them their own depressing future; virgins, who tied their dignity to this insignificant condition; closeted gays, who, therefore, were trying to prove their manhood through hate speeches; and depraved, who felt ashamed to have surrendered to the temptation of the flesh.

Frank wasn't sure from where to start. He couldn't decide, regarding those people, who would be more useful for his research or with whom he could try to interact in order to, perhaps, understand that mind better. He took so much time to make his choice that very soon people began to disperse, returning to their homes. So, when Frank realized that people would no longer leave the church, he started again the engine of the vehicle, sighing in disappointment. Maybe he would have more luck next week if he returned on Sunday.

He was treading slightly the accelerator to leave the square, mentally cursing himself, annoyed about not being able to even get out of the pick-up truck, when the Doctor gave a last glance at the church and saw over there, in the gardens, seated and lonely, a woman in her late twenties, who certainly had not been at the mass during that morning. Frank stopped the car and watched her for a few minutes. The scientist had been studying the inhabitants of the city for so many years that he could tell he knew, at least of view, all families of Denton and its members; that girl, however, was unknown: he had never seen that face before, so, maybe because of this, she had suddenly called so much attention. She was a very ordinary girl, to be honest. Her curly hair, falling like waterfalls to the waist, were dark brown, but shone in light and almost imperceptible shades of red as the sunlight reflected on the strands, and it couldn't find a harmonious pattern like the other girls' elaborated curls, who often went to the hairdresser; her height and her body were median, but Frank realized she had large and agile hands well as a feminine face, but at the same time with more marked, stiff and square traces. She also wore ordinary clothes, but they didn't match exactly what girls of her age used to wear. Other women, for what the stranger noticed, usually wore skirts, colors like pink and yellow, high or low heels, and were always with accessories, such as barrettes or headbands on their hair. That one, however, wasn't so feminine, even though she didn't dress up in men's clothes; the wider and blue pants, the low flat and the white shirt with buttons and sleeveless, well as the almost total absence of ornaments, made her, at the same time, masculine and feminine. That moment, the scientist felt almost immediately a kind of empathy for the girl, because both had one thing in common: by the standards and human expectations, the two of them didn't dress like what was termed by society as belonging to their gender, using freely what made them feel good and nothing else.

Frank opened the door of the pick-up truck and got out of the vehicle, walking slowly and with his hands in his pocket straight to the garden, toward the young lady. She seemed to be notching up the ground with gardening tools, planting seeds, maybe. As he approached, he saw in the corner of his eye the priest getting out of the church and going to the girl; they talked briefly and then the ecclesiastical went away, as she stood up and clapped her dirty hands in a cloth. When the Doctor was close enough to be noticed, she looked up and stared him deeply. Frank stopped and returned the look in silence. Neither of them could say why, but, for some brief and heavy moments, both looked at each other, saying nothing. It was as if some kind of tension had emerged between the nine feet that were separating them, almost as if the air in that space was gone and only a vacuum existed there, sucking them. Frank realized that his breath had stopped and then he heavily sighed when the tension suddenly was broken by the first word the woman uttered:

"Hello." Frank took a deep breath as he took his hands out of his pockets, without losing eye contact. She seemed less tense than him, but she looked a little shy since she was holding one elbow with the hand of the other arm. "Can I help you?"

Frank looked around in a confused gesture, as if he was searching for someone behind him that she could be talking to. But no one was there except him. The Doctor cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow, smiling discreetly. Running a hand through his hair, he said in a voice, which he tried to make sound as natural as possible, without his characteristic affectation and accent:

"Good afternoon." And he quickly thought about how to begin a conversation. "I haven't seen you at the mass today." Frank didn't know what to say. Suddenly, he realized that a bead of sweat slid from his forehead down to the side of his jaw, but he couldn't be sure if it was happening because of the sunny day or if it was due to his nervousness. He glanced at the sky, rationally feeling the temperature, and admitted to himself that it wasn't hot enough to make him sweat by just standing there, so the stranger would have to admit: he was nervous; it was the first time, in all these years on planet Earth, that he was talking to a human being, and only now he seemed to feel the weight of this action. He had been so anxious to leave the Castle to carry out his research that he didn't think what impact it would have on himself. He was doing something unprecedented and, as in rare moments of his life, he was speechless.

The young woman opened her mouth to answer him, but stopped the movement halfway, staring at Frank. She seemed quite disconcerted and a hint of mistrust could be noticed through the tic that affected the corner of her mouth when she tried to force a smile. Very soon the Doctor understood what was happening: he was a stranger in a small town. It was natural that at these places all inhabitants knew each other, at least by sight or name, so be addressed like that by a complete stranger was, at least, suspicious. The girl was intimidated, and it wasn't without any reason. Thus, opening an embarrassed smile, Frank continued:

"I'm sorry, I didn't even introduce myself." And he held out his hand for a greeting, like he always saw humans doing in situations like that, while he was diminishing the distance between the two. "I'm Doctor Frank N. Furter. I live nearby and I never passed by Denton before, I apologize if I scared you."

Giving a single and low giggle, as if she was mocking of what he said, she answered:

"I'm not scared." And, without hesitation, she held out her hand to greet him firmly, without shyness. Frank saw it as a way of her to impose her presence without showing that she was, at least a little, coerced. A brave girl, he could soon notice. The Doctor, however, didn't press and lightly shake the girl's hand as expected, but he took it to his lips, placing at her skin a simple kiss.

"Enchanté.", said the alien.

Even after the gesture, their hands didn't let off for a brief moment. While the skins touched, the stranger could see an almost undetectable change at the woman's face: the initial tension that marked her traces was gradually slipping away. She seemed to breathe with relief, as if the touch had transferred to her veins a dose of soothing, tranquility and confidence. Frank smiled satisfied: he knew this would be the effect of his gesture. Although he had never interacted with humans before, he knew very well one of the reasons why such involvement was forbidden during his research: due to an energy transmission capacity between bodies, Transylvanians had a certain power over earthlings, as if they had a real mesmerizing effect over them. They were extremely persuasive, and this could certainly bring changes in mankind's attitudes, resulting in an erroneous behavior analysis. The Doctor, however, knew that this initial touch was needed to let down the girl's guard, otherwise he would hardly be able to get close enough to her to keep at least a conversation.

At one point, their hands let off and the young woman smiled calmer, with a less tough stance and relaxed shoulders.

"Well, I'm Clarice Mills.", and sighed, in a laid-back way. "In fact, I wasn't at the mass today. Not that I have missed something worthwhile." She laughed and soon spliced a question. "You said you're a doctor, right? What a doctor like you do at this town? Here we have nothing but sad people."

It was a very beautiful name, Clarice, he thought. Shaking his head positively, Frank agreed about what she said about the inhabitants of Denton, mending at this statement the explanation of his appearance at the small town.

"My main goal here is precisely to conduct a research in order to try to change that. To bring, maybe, a little joy to the bitter people I saw coming out of the church."

"It is a great responsibility, Doctor. How do you intend to do it?" At this point, Clarice was already visibly more relaxed, bending to collect the gardening instruments she had left on the grass.

"I want to show them a completely new lifestyle. They must be taken out of the box locked in during their lives."

Clarice laughed, this time with ease, and shook her head negatively as if to rebuke the Doctor's idea.

"Well, good luck in this endeavor, then, because you'll need it. I say it from my own experience. I've tried to change some medieval thoughts that exist in this country and the result is what you see: a few days of forced labor in this town in the middle of nowhere to pay for my disobedience and rebellion." As she spoke, she got up and went toward a wooden box leaning against the walls of the church where the instruments were kept. Saying softly, then, almost as if murmuring more to herself than to the stranger, the girl finished the thought: "At least gardening is way more enjoyable than going to the mass, as it's not possible for the ground and the seeds to hate me."

"And why do they hate you?"

Clarice sighed and shrugged her shoulders, twisting her mouth as if she felt resigned with something:

"Because I'm different from these people, and unfortunately this difference is seen by many of them as dirty and wrong."

For a few seconds, once again the silence settled between both of them. Frank watched the girl while she gathered her belongings to leave, observing her movements, her face and her energy. The Doctor realized, in his brief study of Clarice, that she really wasn't like the others: even though she also looked sad, like the rest of the city, Frank couldn't see in her signs of denial about who she was; on the contrary, the signs of sadness that she showed came precisely from her acceptance of herself, because such acceptance made her to get away from all people she knew and loved in her life.

Clarice was already with her purse on her shoulder when she turned to Frank and shyly waved in a gesture that indicated she was saying goodbye. However, Frank didn't want this brief encounter to end so fast like this, and soon he acted, asking:

"May I know what makes you different from others in Denton?" And, realizing that maybe he was being too invasive, he added: "I'm asking because I'm also very different from everyone here and we may have more in common than we can imagine."

She smiled at him, stopping for a long minute; the outsider noticed that this minute was being used, this time, for him to be observed. The girl, however, sighed and said:

"Maybe another time." Then she took the first steps, moving away a few meters and heading toward the square. Along the way, though, she stopped to walk and turned back to Frank. "I have to fulfill this gardening work for a few more weeks." And then she smiled. "I'll be around here this same time next Saturday. Maybe we come across again."

So, Clarice went away once and for all, entered in an old car parked nearby and started to get more and more distant from the alien along the main street. Frank was left behind, but with a silly smile on his face and with his heart warm, without even understanding why. He didn't know yet, but the brief encounter would take hold his memory and his mind in an almost unbearably way, and Clarice's face would accompany him for the rest of his sleepless nights.


	3. Chapter 3 - The lunch at downtown

**CHAPTER 3 - The lunch at downtown**

On the following Sunday, Frank went once more to the main square and parked his pick-up truck at the opposite side of the church. This time, those who were leaving the sacred building, with their sad and decadent faces as usual, weren't even noticed by the Doctor, who stared fixedly at the garden where he had met Clarice and where she was once again. He stood there in his car for several minutes, even after all the faithful people from the church had gone, watching the woman in her gardening activity. He couldn't say why, and grieved because of it, but the girl had been on his mind during all last week. Frank couldn't concentrate on his studies and spent most of the time quiet, thoughtful. Riff Raff and Magenta quickly noticed their master's strange behavior, usually so energetic and sometimes aggressive, but they didn't say or question anything. Even if they had, they would receive no response because the outsider wouldn't know what to say. Frank was delighted with the woman and, looking in detail at her right now, he tried to understand why. What could be so different about her regarding other earthlings? Some non-standard clothing couldn't mean that much, there had to be something else...

Frank stopped his inquiries as he saw Clarice getting up to collect the instruments she had used. The woman looked around while she wiped her hands on her clothing - this time, a black jeans, sneakers and a brown shirt - and the Doctor thought that maybe she was looking for something or someone. So, before she had the chance to show any signs of leaving the garden, he got out of the car and, still next to his vehicle, he raised a hand to call Clarice's attention at distance. She saw him and, stamping a smile on her face, she raised her hand in response. They walked toward each other, meeting at the center of the square.

The estrangement that had affected the two of them at the first time they crossed each other didn't happen at this meeting. Both were more relaxed and were smiling at each other with sincerity, almost as if they were finding a longtime friend. It got so evident that, as soon as the girl was close enough, right away she reached Frank to shake hands even before he could do it. In an immediate response, practically naturalized, as if the gesture was made every day and had become part of their physical memory, the scientist held out his own hand, gently taking Clarice's fingertips and leading the back of her hand to his lips, depositing there one more simple kiss.

"What a strange coincidence seeing you again, Miss Clarice.", he said with a certain tone of irony, laughing then.

"Oh, yeah, who knew. I didn't expect to see you again, Doctor." She didn't know why, but she was glittering with happiness, not associating the feeling with the presence of Frank. She believed, in her innocence, that the joy and the good mood she was feeling enveloped her at that moment due to the hot temperature of the sun of midday, strongly shining over their heads.

"Oh, well... Like I said, I'm here for a purpose and I believe that your help may be essential in my research. You see, for a long time I have observed the inhabitants of Denton and I realized I have never seen you around before. Also, you really seems to be quite different from the others, which turned out to awaken my attention. I really would like to talk to you."

Clarice stared at him for a few minutes, smiling. The Doctor had very green eyes, slightly fallen, and they were very expressive, she could tell, although she couldn't identify exactly what they expressed. Without noticing it, she briefly got lost in those greenish oceans, forgetting the world around her, drowning more and more in the abyss which was the interior of the strange man in front of her. The girl had the feeling that she was in a whirlwind of sensations that she didn't understand; she had the impression of being involved gradually by a spell, as if those eyes were able to hypnotize her and make her feel floating amidst soft and calming sheets; the only thing she knew for sure was that Frank emanated a pleasant presence and she wanted to know him more and more. Who was he? What did he want? How could she be useful to him? And with those questions in mind, the woman suddenly came out of her unexpected trance and, this time, looked at the stranger as a whole, no longer sinking in the green of his eyes. Taking a deep breath, while she was laughing very embarrassed - she wasn't sure if she had daydreamed for minutes or seconds -, Clarice replied:

"Sure! It will be a pleasure to introduce myself properly and even more being able to know better your research. We can eat at the restaurant next to the library, at this time lunch is probably being served. Betty is just a little girl, but everyone knows she's a wonderful little cook."

Frank hesitated this time. Although he was anxious to continue the interaction with humans, he didn't want to be seen by more people and to be forced to contact other earthlings; Clarice was enough. That was a completely new experience for him, and it was also forbidden during his stay on the planet, and, thus, he should be cautious. He thought about it a lot, however briefly, pondering whether or not to accept the invitation. Ideally, Clarice should talk to him in a private place without the presence of other people who would might ask who he was, but he wasn't sure if he would have enough influence over the girl to convince her to go to his Castle. Frank was still a complete stranger and she seemed to be too wise to risk herself like that. So, he decided there wasn't too many alternatives and answered:

"I would love to. I'm starving."

"Great! Should we go on our own car or should we go on mine? I'll bring you back here afterward and you can take your pick-up truck."

"We better go on your car so we can talk on the way."

They entered Clarice's old vehicle and the girl started the engine, moving away from the square. Frank tried to distract himself on the way, looking at the street, the houses and the people eventually passing by, but he realized it would be very difficult to do it with the young woman by his side. He felt an intense urge to look at her, to analyze the details of her face, the patterns of her curls on her shoulders, her firm and precise hands movements on the steering wheel; Frank felt as if he was mesmerized by her presence, and this sensation intrigued him so much, because he couldn't understand the reason for such fascination. Therefore, he remained silent in the car, rather than starting the conversation he thought would happen minutes before. Clarice didn't seem to be bothered by the silence, however, because she also found herself in a difficult mental state of control: she needed to look at the street and at the road ahead, but her concentration was almost totally focused on the man beside her. What about him was so attractive to her mind? The Doctor didn't seem special at first glance; he didn't possess a classic and obvious beauty, his clothes were simple and she didn't even know him skindeeply so she couldn't say she was admired by who he was in essence. The only certainty they both had, there, inside the machine, was that the presence of each other showed to be, at the same time, pleasant and uncomfortable, as if it was capable of awakening something in their inners that was hard to keep asleep.

Clarice parked in front of the Munroe's Caffé and they both got out of the car, passing through the front door and sitting at a table by the window. Frank noticed that the place had a lot of people in, but it wasn't really crowded, and he felt surprised by the amount of gazes on their direction when they arrived. The outsider frowned, carefully evaluating each of the observers, and realized, somewhat relieved, that most of them focused on Clarice, not on him. She, however, didn't seem to be affected by the situation, bringing on her face an expression of who is resigned more than an expression of who doesn't mind at all.

On their seats, they looked at the menu, exchanging a few casual words about what they would order, and, while they were awaiting for the meal, once again the silence settled between the two. Frank watched her, in a way he already realized to be almost impossible to avoid. To break the ice, then, the scientist decided to restart the dialog:

"So... Clarice Mills. Tell me a little about yourself. It seems to me that you are not from here, just like me."

"Well..." This time, Frank had the feeling she was hesitating a bit. Clarice was pondering the words, analyzing which aspects of her history she should reveal like this, so suddenly, to a total stranger. It didn't take too long, however, and she began to speak, because the alien looked at her firmly, prompting the girl to get lost once again inside the green of his persuasive eyes. "I'm 30 years old and I'm from New York. I have a mother, a father and a younger brother. My whole family is very religious and all men are engineers, but most women still are housewives. It is a tradition and a custom that men want to keep on my family, although I'm an exception to the rule."

At that moment, the waitress arrived with their food, interrupting for a few minutes the girl's speech. Clarice had ordered a cup of black coffee and a natural sandwich while Frank ordered only coffee. Once the meal was placed on the table, the girl picked up her coffee with both hands, sipped a little bit of the fluid, and then remained in silence. Frank smiled at her with a genuinely interested expression, as if he was asking her to continue her story. Clarice smiled back at him, demonstrating, all of a sudden, a graceful shyness - almost imperceptible, a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. The truth was that she felt uneasy about the way Frank was staring at her; it was a very intense look, which seemed to see beyond her physical, invading the secrets of her soul. She couldn't be sure, but the outsider didn't seem to look at her in an invasive, lewd or disrespectful way, as if she was a piece of meat; in fact, she had the impression that the constant attention of the Doctor over her had much more scientific purpose than anything else. Sighing deeply, she continued her brief biography:

"I've always been very dreamer, I always questioned a lot everything that surrounds me, so as a child I made it clear that a submissive life wouldn't apply to me. My mother, who always dreamed of having her own career and didn't have the opportunity to do it, encouraged me to confront my father. So, when I turned 18, I went to college. I didn't want to be an engineer, though." And she laughed heartily, taking the sandwich between her fingers. "With a lot of effort, I graduated in Art History at the City College of New York, and there I met many artists and amazing people. The time I spent at that place was crucial in shaping my character." At this point, the Denton girl interrupted her narrative and bit her lunch, noticeably less shy. "And how about you? Tell me about who you are too, what's your research about. I don't want you to think of myself as a chatterbox."

The alien opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it without making any sound. He was thinking about what to say. He seemed to be as afraid as she was to reveal his history. It was a fact that he should say something, otherwise the conversation between the two would eventually comes down to a monologue by Clarice and this could upset the girl. He couldn't, however, reveal much of his life, so he pondered his words a lot, wondering what he would be able to omit without necessarily having to lie about some detail. He not only couldn't reveal his extra-terrestrial origin to the girl, but also wasn't sure about how much of his research he could tell. He didn't know her enough to predict what would be her reaction to certain revelations.

"Well, quite briefly, and I hope with all my heart that it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable about it, I am a scientist who studies sexuality and social dynamics surrounding it. I came to a small town nearby a few years ago in order to dive right in my research, but, since my study has always been very theoretical, I decided it was time to insert a practical touch to it. And here I am."

"Wow! A sexologist in Denton, that's something I wasn't expecting!" Clarice said, quite excited. This reaction, however, wasn't expected by Frank. His confusion probably was stamped on his face, because very quickly the girl laughed and added: "Here in Denton there isn't much to study on this subject; if there's one thing I think people in this place don't know about is sex. But elsewhere, especially in big cities like New York, the country has undergone a tremendous sexual revolution. It might be more beneficial for you to leave Denton and talk to those who fight for freedom and sexual diversity, not to these moralists and archaic people from here." and started again to eat her sandwich, looking relaxed.

The Doctor didn't answer, however. Although Clarice has justified her excitement about the outsider's study object, he still couldn't understand it. Frank knew that elsewhere in the country and the world gender and sexuality issues were much more evolved than at the small and traditional town of Denton, because annually he got in touch with others Transylvanians scientists to know the results of their research. The girl seemed to reflect the more advanced reality of the Big Apple, but then the outsider wondered: what was Clarice doing in Denton? Why would she have left New York? Frank sipped his coffee, almost cold by then, trying to disguise how much he was intrigued using a false image of tranquility.

"I can't leave this place to do my research elsewhere. My particular site of action is in Denton and regions, so another researcher is already responsible for New York. I have to deal with the material I find here, whatever it is." And laughed, almost as if he was laughing at his own misfortune.

"So you're not a lone wolf, because apparently you're part of a research institution."

"Oh, well, we're not exactly a research institution, but we surely are a group of scientists working together for a greater research. We're all around the world, performing our studies for a longer time than you might imagine."

"And do you focus your research only on sexual issues or do you work with other subjects as well?"

"Indeed, our focus is on sexuality and gender, but many of us are also specialized in many other branches. I, for example, am also a bio-chemical, although it's been a long time since I'm not studying anything from the area."

"I'm impressed, Doctor. You are proving to be much more interesting than I thought at first."

Frank smiled sheepishly, but very quickly he undid the expression and frowned slightly, seriously looking at Clarice. He realized that, almost like a firefly attracted by the light, he was revealing himself without control of the situation. Although he really needed to share some information about his life so that the conversation could flow, he understood now that Clarice had spoken very little about herself and he, who should be studying, was actually being studied. He cleared his throat, drunk a little more of his coffee, trying to hide the nervousness that suddenly had taken possession of his body, and stared at Clarice for a few intense seconds. She seemed to be quite comfortable; she had already eaten all her lunch and nothing was left of the coffee in her mug. The Transylvanian decided, then, to take back the reins of the conversation:

"And what is a girl from New York doing in Denton, if I may ask? You say there are only sad and old-fashioned people in here, but you are somewhat different from all the others."

With a deep sigh and looking away from Frank, distracting herself with the pieces of a paper napkin on the table, she began:

"Unfortunately, I came here against my will." At this point, Clarice's expression quickly became gray and withered, as if talking about it weighed on her chest. She paused for a few seconds before continuing. "According to my father, I made things that 'dishonored' our family's traditions and those things couldn't be forgiven. The simple fact that I have gone to college had already been a problem, but he ended up forgiving it because of my mother. However, when I started to participate in a serie of other activities he disapproved, I ended up being considered the shame of the family and then I was sent to this city at the end of the world. They hoped here I could get away from everything that was a bad influence on my life." The girl laughed, but her laughter contained evidents traces of bitterness. "Even my mother eventually ended up falling into my father's manipulation and stopped supporting my cause at some point. And that's it. I live with a very old great-aunt, I lost touch with all my family and I don't have any friends or acquaintances here, even though the whole town knows me."

She muted again, looking at her empty coffee mug, lost in her thoughts and memories. Frank felt increasingly intrigued by Clarice. What activities could be those with which she had been involved? What could she have done that displeased so much her family to the point of practically being banish by them to the boredom of Denton? The scientist wanted to know more and more about her, and he would ask as many questions as necessary to the human. He needed, though, to provide delicacy to his words, because the melancholy that dominated Clarice's features clearly showed that talking about this matter wasn't easy for her. When the alien opened his mouth to speak, however, he got suddenly interrupted by the waitress, who had approached the table to remove their dishes. She was a chubby woman in her early 50s, with dyed red hair and a deep voice. When she was turning to walk away from the table, she came back to Frank and asked:

"Do you by chance aren't from here, are you?"

Caught by surprise by her question, the outsider took a second or two to respond:

"No, certainly not." And smiled suspiciously, finding her sudden question very odd.

"Really? I could swear I have seen you around. Your face is familiar to me."

"Oh, well, I have a very common face and the lady must have me confused with some charming gentleman."

The woman shrugged, then walked away, not insisting on the subject. So, when the Transylvanian turned his face to Clarice, he realized that the girl had her eyes fixed on him and she seemed to evaluate him very carefully, carrying, perhaps, the same suspicion in her eyes, with which Frank stared at the waitress. She said nothing, however, and suddenly she led her pulse to her face, checking the time on the clock.

"Wow! It's almost two in the afternoon, I need to go." While she was quickly putting her bag over her shoulder, she took some dollar bills from her wallet and left them on the table to pay the bill. Again, the scientist was abruptly caught by surprise; he wasn't expecting that the meeting would end so soon and so unexpectedly. He had so many questions to ask yet! Looking Clarice in her agile movements, he also rose as she spoke. "You can let this one on me this time. Next time it can be on you." At this point, the sadness on her face had gone completely and she was smiling radiantly.

They walked quickly toward Clarice's parked car at the outside, entered the vehicle and went back to the main square in silence, where Frank left his pick-up truck. When they got there, both of them got off the car and the outsider walked up to Clarice's side. Standing opposite each other, they stared one another for a second; the silence that had accompanied them along the way remained until the girl reached out for a goodbye greeting. Frank took her hand to put on it his custom kiss, but, at the end of the gesture, he didn't let go her fingers, maintaining that minimum physical contact with Clarice as he said:

"I hope there really is a next time, miss Mills."

The girl smiled broadly while she was felling her fingers touching the skin of the not so unknown man in front of her. She couldn't explain, and didn't even know if there would be an explanation for that or if it was just something in her head, but Frank's touch was able to bring a calm and a peace sensation to her heart that she never had felt before.

"Please, call me Clarice. And..." Breathing deeply and discreetly biting her lower lip, the girl took a moment to complete her sentence: "I still need to execute that gardening work at the church. Maybe fate will make us meet again by accident next week."

"Who knows... who knows." And they let off each other's hands.

Clarice entered her car and started it up. As she accelerated to leave, she looked out the window and waved briefly to Frank, who was standing on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to pull away. When he got alone, the Transylvanian sighed and looked at the sky, trying to find, without understanding why, some kind of comfort in the soft texture of the white clouds and the blue sky above his head. He didn't know yet, but what already was tightening his chest and claiming for urgent relief, was the yearning growing in his heart.


End file.
